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David Ben-Gurion

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (R) are pictured either side of an image of the burning Altalena ship. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90, Hans Pinn/GPO, Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)
August 28, 2026, 6:37 pm
How the sunken 1948 Altalena arms ship became an election battleground in Israel in 2026
Always a symbol of the battle between left and right, the re-discovery of the wreck has been seized on by nationalist parties seeking to appropriate the mantle of victimhood
By Deborah Danan
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks from the Israeli coast about the locating of the 1948 vessel Altalena, August 24, 2026. (GPO screenshot)
August 24, 2026, 10:21 pm
PM hails finding of Irgun arms ship Altalena, denounces Ben-Gurion for attacking it in 1948
Netanyahu uses incident to illustrate dangers of civil war while denigrating his political opponents; Ben Gvir likens himself to Irgun leader Begin at separate press event
By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff
The Altalena ship burns after being shelled near Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948. (Hans Pinn/GPO)
August 24, 2026, 12:57 pm
Wreckage found of Altalena arms ship sunk in deadly 1948 power tussle, far-right ministers announce
IDF says it had no part in search for Irgun ship sunk by army of nascent state; 16 Irgun members, 3 IDF troops died in incident that became right-wing symbol; chances of lifting still-intact vessel said slim
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
From 'The Eichmann Trial,' a play at Jerusalem's Beit HaAm, on April 27, 2026. (Courtesy)
May 4, 2026, 5:26 am
New drama ‘The Eichmann Trial’ at Jerusalem’s Beit Ha’am takes same stage as actual trial
Through May 4, the portrayal of the 1961 hearing offers a captivating glimpse at the human psyche, along with a history of budding relations between Germany and the Jewish state
By Jessica Steinberg
Yariv Ben-Eliezer, the grandson of David Ben-Gurion, speaks at a memorial for his grandfather in Sde Boker on November 26, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)
November 26, 2025, 3:00 pm
Ben-Gurion’s grandson: Presence of ‘Kahanist’ minister at memorial ‘disrespectful’
In off-the-cuff remarks, Yariv Ben-Eliezer says government should not have sent Otzma Yehudit’s Yitzhak Wasserlauf to annual state ceremony for his grandfather
By ToI Staff
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman attends a State Control Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
November 11, 2025, 4:01 pm
Comptroller blames Israel’s October 7 failures on lack of national security policy
Matanyahu Englman says that without an official doctrine and interagency coordination, political and military leaders have been improvising for decades; urges Netanyahu to launch reform
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
Cartoon illustrating Israelis' first election, January 25, 1948. (AP Photo/H. E. Munhall)
May 1, 2025, 11:58 am
Daily Briefing May 1: Day 573 – Ben-Gurion’s anguish upon the founding of Israel
In a special Independence Day episode, senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur takes us back to the first prime minister’s conflicted emotions as the nascent state fought enemies and division
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Haviv Rettig Gur
A copy of David Ben-Gurion's diary from May 14, 1948 (Ben-Gurion Archives)
April 28, 2025, 1:00 pm
Ben-Gurion diary entries on day of independence revealed: ‘I mourn among the joyful’
Document found in archives reveals how first PM worried over Arab invasion, writing on May 14, 1948, that nascent state’s fate was ‘in the hands of the security forces’
By ToI Staff
Adolf Eichmann standing in his glass cage, flanked by guards, in the Jerusalem courtroom during his trial in 1961 for war crimes committed during World War II. (AP Photo/File)
January 27, 2025, 4:06 pm
Israel national archive opens online access to 380,000 pages of Eichmann trial documents
Trove of scanned paperwork include prosecutors’ correspondence with Ben-Gurion, original testimonies including from writer Yehiel Dinur who met Nazi war criminal in Auschwitz
By AFP and ToI Staff
David Ben-Gurion's glasses back in their resting place atop the founding prime minister's desk at his hut-turned-commemorative museum in Kibbutz Sde Boker, southern Israel, from which a soldier had filched them during an educational tour, May 26, 2024. (Police spokesperson)
May 27, 2024, 10:11 pm
Ben-Gurion’s stolen glasses returned to Sde Boker museum
Police say spectacles found near military barracks hours after soldier snatched them during tour of first premier’s desert abode; pilferer interrogated, put on remand
By ToI Staff
A group of people in Jerusalem mark Israel's 75th Independence Day with a ceremonial reading of the Declaration of Independence, on April 26, 2023 (Credit: Mabua).
May 14, 2024, 9:01 am
Emerging Independence Day ritual inspires unity and gratitude in shadow of October 7
Reading the Declaration of Independence together in public bridges between secular and religious Israelis in a new-old tradition that can be adapted to any citizen’s faith
By Maya Zanger-Nadis
A statue depicting Israel's first prime minister David Ben-Gurion that was set on fire on the beach in Tel Aviv, September 16, 2023 (Flash90)
September 21, 2023, 9:33 pm
Court orders release of suspect in torching of Ben Gurion statue to house arrest
Tel Aviv judge gives police 24 hours to appeal, criticizes their handling of probe into incident, says they were influenced by media attention
By ToI Staff
A statue depicting Israel's first prime minister David Ben-Gurion that was set on fire on the beach in Tel Aviv, September 16, 2023 (Flash90)
September 16, 2023, 11:57 am
Iconic Ben-Gurion headstand statue on Tel Aviv beach badly burned in attack
Homeless man arrested; security increased at first PM’s home, which laments ‘increasing vitriol’ toward Israel’s founders days after gov’t lawyer rapped Declaration of Independence
By ToI Staff
Journalist Oren Kessler, author of 'Palestine 1936.' (Hadas Parush)
August 18, 2023, 7:21 am
What Matters Now to author Oren Kessler: 1936 Palestine’s missed peace deal
In ‘Palestine 1936,’ Kessler delves into dusty archives to bring to life the overlooked saga of the 3-year Arab Revolt that arguably forms the roots of today’s Middle East conflict
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
View of the David Ben-Gurion walking trail, Sde Boker, February 2023. (Courtesy/Dead Sea Preservation Government Company)
March 11, 2023, 6:45 am
New desert promenade will take visitors on Ben-Gurion’s favorite Negev walk
Sde Boker, where the first prime minister lived after retiring, gets an upgrade that aims to draw tourists while keeping their footprint small
By Danielle Nagler
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